Celebrating 'The Advocates' of 2024
MICHAEL STEWART/WIREIMAGE
This year, musical icon, fierce feminist, and dedicated LGBTQ+ ally Cyndi Lauper tops our annual list of The Advocates, which honors 10 artists, activists, advocates, and others who strive to make the world a better place for all.
Scroll on to meet all The Advocates of 2024...
Legendary icon and ally Cyndi Lauper
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
“Hon, I’m a family member!” Cyndi saysof her long-standing relationship with the queer community. In our exclusive interview with the cultural icon, Lauper opens up about her early days in the music industry, her years of LGBTQ+ allyship, her fight to protect reproductive rights, and her decision to do a global farewell tour. You also don't want to miss the fascinating documentary on her life and career, Let the Canary Sing, now streaming on Paramount+.
“True Colors United is still going,” she says of the foundation she cofounded in 2008. “They’re advocating for the long-term solution to the problem of homelessness for LGBT youth through advocacy, youth action, and technical assistance. They’re working with shelters and housing programs to make sure there are safe places for the LGBTQ+.”
Drag Race trailblazer Nymphia Wind
Santiago Felipe/Getty Images for MTV
Welcome to the reign of the banana queen! During the season 16 finale in April, Nymphia Wind became the newest queen to join the winner’s circle of RuPaul’s Drag Race — and made herstory while doing it. As the very first East Asian and Taiwanese winner of the flagship series, the crowned queen is hoping this very important moment will resonate for many LGBTQ+ young people.
“It’s pretty crazy,” says Nymphia, known for her signature bright yellow banana-themed ensembles. “It’s been a wild, wild, wild ride — like I’ve been on a tornado! Hopefully I don’t disappoint [queer youth] and will inspire them to want to be beautiful and really come out to their parents.”
Longtime LGBTQ+ ally Jean Smart
courtesy NBC Universal
Jean Smart’s allyship to the LGBTQ+ community has gone hand-in-hand with her amazing four-decade-plus career on stage and screen. In fact, her first New York theater credit was playing a lesbian in the play Last Summer at Bluefish Cove. And years before her current Emmy-winning role on HBO Max’s Hacks — playing the fictional comedy legend Deborah Vance who has a complicated relationship with her bisexual writing partner Ava (played by Hannah Einbinder) — Smart became known to the world as Charlene Frazier-Stillfield on the 1980s sitcom Designing Women. The popular series was one of the first to address the topic of HIV/AIDS on network television, an issue close to the actress’s heart.
“I have had gay friends for a very, very long time — some of the most important people in my life," Smart tells The Advocate. My career began playing a lesbian. The fact that these people are still misunderstood is not right. But it’s changing — slowly, but it’s changing.”
Dallas Pride's Sherrell Cross
courtesy Dallas Pride
Earlier this year, Sherrell Cross made history as the new executive director of Dallas Pride, the first Black woman to hold the position in the organization’s 40-plus year history. A New Orleans native, Cross brings a unique blend of empathy, advocacy, and community-focused leadership, setting a new era for one of the nation’s largest pride celebrations.
“I strongly believe that diversity and representation are crucial in our community,” Cross asserts. “Be it race, ethnicity, or gender, each perspective offers a unique view." She adds, "We want [everyone] to know that you also have a seat at this table.”
Artist and activist Grag Queen
Gustavo Arrais
Despite otherwise growing up surrounded by love, Queen of the Universe season 1 champion and Drag Race Brasil host Grag Queen went through conversion therapy during her youth. “It started mostly at school, when my mom got asked if she would decide whether I was a boy or a girl,” recalls the multi-talented artist. “That was the first time she brought a pastor in, who claimed that there was a devil in me. Something like that can be very damaging for a young kid.”
“I want to tell young LGBTQ+ people that you’re free to be who you are. Don’t give up on yourself,” Grag says. “That’s why I recently collaborated with Editora Taverna on The Cure — a short film to spread awareness about these inhumane practices and call for the criminalization of conversion therapy. We want to make sure that your story, and my story, are not in vain.”
Admiral Rachel Levine
courtesy The White House
Amid the hallowed halls of power in Washington, D.C., where the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services holds sway, Admiral Rachel Levine stands as both a paragon and a provocateur. As the first out transgender federal official confirmed by the U.S. Senate, her presence in such a revered institution challenges norms long reserved for cisgender men. Yet, it’s not just her historic appointment that captures attention; it’s also her unwavering resilience in the face of relentless adversity from right-wing factions.
“The more I’m attacked, the more it motivates me to work harder and to advocate more,” declares Levine, her determination shining — a testament to her indomitable spirit. “I am able to work them out myself and with my friends and my family,” she confides, revealing the intimate network that supports her.
Poet and activist Cheryl Clarke
Nivea Castro
Dr. Cheryl Clarke is a radical Black lesbian poet, essayist, scholar, and educator whose career and activism has been going strong for over four decades now. After attending the famous March on Washington in her teens, Clarke began experimenting with poetry during her time at Howard University in the 1960s and became involved in the burgeoning Black Arts Movement. In the 1970s and ’80s, she collaborated with grassroots feminist publishers such as Kitchen Table and Firebrand Books and started the lesbian feminist magazine Conditions. As part of the Combahee River Collective, Clarke worked alongside icons of the movement like Barbara Smith and Audre Lorde.
Now, she’s about to release the most comprehensive collection of her work yet, Archive of Style. The book is filled with Clarke’s poems from the 1980s to the present (some previously unpublished), in addition to newspaper clippings and song lyrics. In “living as a lesbian underground,” she writes: “Don’t be taken in your sleep now. / Call your assailant’s name now. / Leave signs of struggle. / Leave signs of triumph. / Leave signs.”
Drag king Mark Anthony
courtesy Trope Publishing Co
This London-based artist is not your typical cabaret performer — and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I was inspired to start doing drag in my 20s, when I discovered drag kings and watched them perform,” Mark Anthony recalls. “Drag brought me out of my shell, gave me the confidence to be seen, and also to process my trans identity."
In his new book, Life As a Cabaret, filled with stunning images by renowned burlesque photographer Veronika Marx, Anthony seeks to show an entirely different side of cabaret “in all of its gritty, subversive glory.”
“As a drag king, a Boylesque performer, and a trans performer, I’ve always felt like I had to work harder to be respected, to prove that I belong in drag shows and burlesque shows even though I don’t fit the stereotypical mold of what a performer in those genres looks like," Anthony says. "I know that many of the performers in this book have experienced the same and greater barriers.”
Longtime ally and activist Willie Nelson
C Flanigan/FilmMagic
At 91 and still going strong, Willie Nelson is one the most prolific, progressive, and beloved American country artists of all time. In addition to his amazing musical career, Nelson has also been an activist and advocate for many progressive causes long before it was in vogue — including supporting Farm Aid, the legalization of marijuana, and marriage equality.
Most recently to show his continued support of the LGBTQ+ community, Nelson collaborated with queer country star Orville Peck, who praised the legendary songwriter for his allyship. The two covered the very queer country classic, “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other.”
“Willie kept talking about how the subject matter in this song was more important than ever,” Peck told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “He wanted it to have a new life with the two of us.”
LGBTQ+ ally Busy Phillips
DFree/Shutterstock
Throughout her life and career, actress Busy Philipps — known for her iconic roles on shows like Freaks and Geeks, Cougar Town, Girls5eva, and this year’s Mean Girls reboot — has also always used her platform to stand up for marginalized communities. She’s supported marriage equality for years and has also spoken out about supporting her daughter Birdie, who first came out to her at the age of 12.
"I’ve always felt like the part of the deal with having [certain privileges] is highlighting marginalized people, and the plight of others who don’t have the things that I have been so privileged to have,” says Philipps.
Currently, you can enjoy Philipps on her new QVC talk show, a first of its kind on the network, Busy This Weekandon the third season of Girls5eva, now streaming on Netflix. She also has a fun podcast with her friend and creative partner, Caissie St. Onge, called Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best.
